Christendom. Thirteenth century. Flanders is a county in turmoil. The cloth industry is in trouble. England is threatening to ban the export of wool-the lifeblood of the cloth industry-to Flanders. Merchants, anxious to keep profits buoyant, are trying to drive down workers' pay and conditions. Jehanne la Fl che and Guillem d'Avignon, two itinerant musicians, travel to Flanders in hopes of gaining work and, if lucky, patronage. Slowly, inexorably, they are drawn into the county's problems, both internal and external. Beset by misogyny, harassed by prejudice, nearly torn apart by jealousy, they struggle to keep afloat.